Japanese Germ Warfare Experimental 731 Base

Of all the horrors inflicted on the Chinese by the occupying Japanese army in the 1930s and ‘40s, none can match what went on at the Japanese Germ Warfare Experimental Base 731 Division. Between 1939 and 1945, Chinese prisoners of war and civilians were frozen alive, subjected to vivisection or infected with bubonic plague, syphilis and other virulent diseases. Three to Four thousand people died here in the most gruesome fashion, including Russians, Koreans, Mongolians and, it is believed, a few American airmen.

The main building of the base is now a museum, with photos, sculptures and exhibits of the equipment used by the Japanese. There are extensive English captions.

To get to the base, which is in the far south of Harbin, take bus 342 (￥2)from just to the right of the post office on Tielu Jie (Railroad Street). Get off at Xinjiang Dajie (Xinjiang Street) and walk back for about five minutes. The base is on the left-hand side of the road. If you cross the train tracks, you’ve gone too far. If you get lost, just ask the locals the way to ‘Qi San Yi ‘or ‘731’.